Shopping.
Things.
Stuff.
If there’s a word that comes immediately to mind when thinking of American culture, it’s “consumerism”.
Now, I’m not anti-consumerism by nature. If someone wants to go out there and spend a ton of money, more power to them. It keeps the profit machines I’m invested in well oiled. It’s just that a lot of research shows that more stuff doesn’t necessarily correlate all that well with more happiness.
That said, I love to go down to my local store and spend money.
For years now, it’s been one of my favorite activities. I’m probably even more of a “consumer” than most Americans.
However, my “store” isn’t like the one down at your local strip mall. And I “consume” very different merchandise.
My Favorite Store
The stock market is my favorite store of all. It is, after all, a “market”. It’s right in the name.
It’s a place where dreams come true… literally.
By routinely shopping at the stock market, I’ve been able to build the passive income necessary to quit my job, pursue meaningful passions, and build a customized life.
This certainly wouldn’t happen if I were spending all that time and money instead shopping down at my local Walmart.
There’s a popular saying about a “kid in a candy store”. I don’t know about that. Candy tastes good, I suppose. But it can give you diabetes. And make you fat. So there’s that. The stock market makes me neither. In fact, it offers me the opportunity to become a healthier version of myself. Indeed, at 35 years old, I’m in the best shape of my life.
What’s also funny to me is that e-commerce is a somewhat new concept. It’s been steadily growing for years, but it’s particularly relevant today. You go online, buy things, and they’re automagically delivered to your home. This has become a topic of much conversation in investing circles due to the disruption that’s occurring in numerous industries. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard as much about e-commerce as I have over the last 12-18 months.
But the stock market has had this e-commerce thing locked down for many years now.
It was way back in the mid-90s, prospective investors could then go online and buy stocks. And even before that, one could call up their broker, buy stock, and be done with it. You could do it in your pajamas.
It’s now easier and cheaper than ever to go online and buy stocks. In fact, I buy and sell stocks for free (meaning no commission charges). And guess what? No shipping charges or minimums to worry about.
While other people are busy buying up… whatever they’re buying… I’m focusing my time and capital on my favorite merchandise of all.
My Favorite Merchandise
What’s in most stores?
Food? Household goods? Clothes?
All fine and dandy. But I don’t eat much. A very small apartment requires few furnishings. And I only wear a few outfits.
The merchandise that most people tend to focus on means very little to me.
Instead, my favorite merchandise can be found in the stock market.
High-quality dividend growth stocks are my favorite merchandise.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Stock in PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP). A slice of Union Pacific Corporation (UNP).
My heart skips a beat just thinking about seeing quality merchandise like this on sale. Perhaps that’s the same feeling someone else gets when they see a pair of high-end shoes on sale? I wouldn’t know.
See, while most other merchandise drains you of your capital and time, my merchandise adds capital and time to my life.
This merchandise adds capital to my life via the growing dividend income these stocks generate for me, as these are real-life businesses selling real-life products and/or services that produce real-life profit. More products and/or services means more profit. And more profit translates into more dividends for me. That’s on top of the appreciation of the merchandise’s value, as these companies naturally become worth more over time as they sell more and increase their profit.
This merchandise adds time to my life via the freedom that dividend income offers. When one’s passive income exceeds their expenses, they’re financially free. Free not just of financial concerns, but free to essentially do what they want with their time.
And that’s really the point for me.
There’s nothing I’d rather own than my own time.
I don’t know what could be worth owning more than my time. And so when I buy stocks, I’m basically buying time. That’s what it is for me. That’s what all of this is for me.
Most merchandise depreciates and costs you money, while high-quality dividend growth stocks often appreciate while paying you money.
And while a lot of stuff eventually becomes “so last year”, growing dividend income never goes out of style.
It’s not hard to see why this is my favorite merchandise.
Conclusion
There are plenty of stores out there. Take your pick. Or just take a cruise around your city. You’ll run into them.
But I can think of no better store than the stock market. It’s a market where my favorite merchandise can be found. This is merchandise that adds time, capital, and value to my life. Instead of becoming less free every time I buy this merchandise, I become more free.
Whereas many people love walking the mall or window shopping, I enjoy perusing the market for sales on great merchandise. I don’t even have any money a lot of times. I just look around and see what’s out there, knowing that I’ll probably be buying myself a nice little “gift” at some point in the near future.
Forget a fancy watch, though. I’d rather have merchandise that pays me to own it.
Because dividends are the gifts that keep on giving.
Full disclosure: I’m long JNJ, PEP, UNP.
What do you think? Is the stock market your favorite store? Are high-quality dividend growth stocks your favorite merchandise?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: Sura Nualpradid at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Cool perspective. I shop in this store 2-3 times a months. They know me by name, and they know exactly what I like to buy.
I spend so much every month in this store that I really think I need help. 🙂 Its such a high when I get the chance to buy something on sale.
FV,
I hear you. I’m a “VIP Customer” at this point. 🙂
I could have spent all of this time and money on regular merchandise. And I’d be much worse off for it. To each their own, though. The widespread preference for other stores and other merchandise keeps me happy, fed, and free .
Best regards!
VIP customer – I like it! So am I. I completely hear you brother on how dividends add both time and capital to our life – leading to freedom, one passive dollar at a time….
TFR,
VIP customer, indeed!
Cheers used to have the bar where everyone knew your name. I’d rather go down to the stock market, where it always knows my name. I’m always glad I came. 🙂
Best regards.
The stock market is definitely my favorite store out there. It’s fun to learn about many different businesses and I think I am more connected to the world and interested in more things because of it.
-Mike
Mike,
Yeah, there’s definitely a sense of interconnection there. I mean, those dividends are coming in because the businesses you own a slice of are selling these products and/or services to people all over the world. So even though you’re collecting in dollars, that income is made possible from transactions all over the world. Plus, it can lead down all kinds of rabbit holes. My interest in philanthropy, for example, was partially developed by learning about certain business leaders and how they’re sharing their wealth with those less fortunate.
Cheers!
Haha, right on! I must confess, I am a consumer – of the stock market!
I find myself ‘window shopping’ the market all the time. Especially whatever is on the clearance shelf – like Kroger. I don’t much like paying ‘full-price’. 🙂
MDD,
I don’t much like paying full price, either!
Like Buffett has said, it doesn’t matter if it’s socks or stocks – you want to see good merchandise marked down. I certainly prefer stocks over socks, when possible. 🙂
Best regards.
How close is your dividend income to covering your living expenses? Have you given thought to disclosing your portfolio? I would love to see it.
Keenan,
I last shared the coverage (passive income/expenses) a number of months ago. Things haven’t changed much:
https://www.mrfreeat33.com/passive-income-and-core-personal-expenses-for-december-2016/
I do disclose my portfolio. It’s linked at the top of the site. It’s also linked in the article. I’m not sure how you can miss it, but I’ll go ahead and save you some trouble:
https://www.mrfreeat33.com/portfolio/
Take care!
Hey Jason,
that’s exactly how it has become for me. Right on the money. To shop at Mr. Market and buy shares of great companies is so much more satisfying for me than buying fancy “stuff”. In the last two years i thought twice before i bought something and asked myself if it was really really necessary. In most cases it was not and i was happy to buy more shares with that money. Being an investor/ business owner (although a small one) and getting returns through dividends feels mor than great. And to some degree i can identify with the companies i invest in (cause i select them carefully).
Greet’s from Germany,
DividendSolutions
DS,
I hear you. I can’t really think of any traditional merchandise that gives me quite the same pleasure as my favorite merchandise. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
Great perspective Jason! In an earlier post on my website I admitted to have a ‘shopping problem’..whenever I get my paycheck I spend most of it on stocks, especially when they are on sale!
Pretty analogous to other shopping problems and addictions I guess, although mine never produces that credit card statement hangover.
Are you planning on making any portfolio posts again? Would love to read how – now you are in ‘portfolio maintenance’ mode – handle issues such as sector (dis)balances, dollar cost averaging on exisiting positions, selling decisions etc. The upkeep of your portfolio house if you will, now that it has been constructed.
All the best!
Tall Investing
TI,
No kidding, right? No credit card bills to worry about when you’re buying stocks. I mean, that’s assuming that you’re not buying on margin or something. I suppose that even investing could become problematic if you don’t approach it correctly, but that’s probably more the exception rather than the rule (quite the opposite from traditional merchandise/shopping). You don’t want to be obsessive over it, as the money is just a means to an end. But I do enjoy my little “shopping trips” when they roll around. 🙂
That’s a good question there, re: portfolio posts. I’m honestly not sure. I kind of feel like it’s only rehashing what’s already known, as I share what I’m doing via social media, and I update the portfolio every month. I always wonder if that kind of content is of the same value as bigger messages that have far more of an impact on our lives. But there’s also a contingent of people out there who only want to talk money/stocks 24/7, so there’s that. I’ll think on it!
Thanks for stopping in.
Best wishes.
I love going down to the ‘sales’ and picking up a bargain every so often. Flicking through the ‘stock’ on offer and choosing something of quality. It has to be the right fit for my ‘wardrobe’ though.
As you say Jason, the heart skips a beat knowing you have stumbled upon this gem of a stock. A mature business, with all the right metrics that is going through a temporary glitch.
In our case, this ‘stock’ pays for itself and much, much more…
thecannycontractor,
Definitely. This merchandise pays for itself many times over. I’d much rather have something that appreciates and pays me money than something that depreciates and costs me money. It’s a no-brainer, honestly. 🙂
Best regards!
I shop at the same store too! I go every month and get some staples (exchange traded funds) and when there’s a big sale on I like to load up and buy, buy, buy! I’m saving my money up for the next big sale. Awesome post!
GYM,
You and I shop at the same store! Maybe we’ll bump into each other at some point. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers!
Walmart and Amazon have become one-stop-shopping for most consumers… But I one-stop-shop at Vanguard! “I’ll take one of everything, please!” Nice and easy for this lazy shopper!
Jover,
There you go. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Why browse through endless aisles of traditional merchandise when you could instead radically improve your life with just a quick grab of the best merchandise of all?
Cheers!
Ah, my favorite store! No pushy crowds. You can shop even they’re closed. They’re never out of stock. And you end up with more money after the purchase than you did before.
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB,
Absolutely. There’s pretty much nothing to like about this store and the merchandise that can be found within. Most stuff makes you poorer and more miserable. This merchandise makes you richer and happier. To each their own, but I couldn’t imagine shopping any other way. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
So much fun to shop at the “store” of stocks
Blanco,
I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. 🙂
Cheers!
Great post, Jason! I agree 100%! I honestly don’t enjoy buying most things as much as I enjoy buying dividend paying stocks. I like progress and things that are moving forward so it seems like a waste. The stock market is my preferred market. I also get to make purchases from the comfort of my own laptop at home. If you’re the type that tracks your income in charts, It’s fun to add to the numbers after purchases too. Thanks for sharing!
Graham,
I’m with you all the way. Love buying stocks while sitting in my apartment, relaxing in my pajamas. What better type of e-commerce than that?! 🙂
Thanks for dropping by.
Best regards.